Batu Biologics just raised $1.3 million in order to continue funding the development of ValloVax, an immunotherapy treatment for cancer tumors. The crowdfunding project was started in May 2017. Initially, the money was expected to help fund experiments with the drug that would be necessary for it to obtain its Investigational New Drug Application (IND). As it turns out, the treatment gained clearance on this step this past November.
Since the original plan for most of the money had already been achieved, Batu Biologics instead plans to use the funds for the next stage of testing. More specifically, the company plans to upscale the manufacture of the treatment so that enough of it will be available for study Phase I. The company also needs to partner with other organizations so that it can demonstrate the viability of ValloVax in a clinical setting. The company expects to make significant process in the coming year in proving the effectiveness of the treatment.
Immunotherapy is any form of drug treatment that alters the immune response in order to rectify the disease. This can mean initiating a response from the immune system to the disease when it was not responding previously, boosting the immune response, or suppressing the immune response. Suppression is necessary in conditions where the immune system attacks parts of the body. A variety of different immunotherapy treatments have been developed in order to treat a variety of cancer forms.
